About

Hi, welcome to my website! The idea first came about when I was halfway through my first year of graduate school. After working for 8 years for an independent book publishing company in New York, I moved out to California to pursue a masters in International Environmental Policy.

I’ve always been a booknerd. Since the moment I was old enough to write a sentence, I began writing stories. My favorite pastime as a child was going to the library and picking out a tall stack of books to take home. In college, I was an English literature major. For as long as I can remember my dream was to write the “great American novel.” And then, after I graduated I landed a coveted job in book publishing. I was paid to talk to interesting people about books. I negotiated deals to have Kurt Vonnegut’s books translated into a dozen languages; I met and corresponded with Howard Zinn, Ralph Nader, Alice Walker, the list goes on and on. The scope of my world expanded in a way that’s hard to describe. Socrates has an expression about how the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. That’s how I felt.

I became an adult in those 8 years. But, the part of me that loved to create, to make up stories and play with characters slowly faded away. It all seemed so trite and self-indulgent. Worse, after spending a day critiquing and proofreading manuscripts, I found myself editing myself before the words could even come out.

So, imagine my surprise, when one day while quickly preparing a reading response that was due in 20 minutes that the old sensation came back. That absolute NEED to put my words down. To be a conduit. No hesitation. But this time, I’m not writing fiction. Real life is much more interesting.

This is my idea: We’re living at a momentous time in history. Revolutionary times in fact. How do we deal with peak oil? How do we cope with climate change and climate refugees? How do you implement development projects on small island nations that might be swallowed by sea level rise in the next 75 years? And, the big question that inspires and puzzles me: How do can we meet human needs and preserve the environment? Old models of capitalism assume self-interest and don’t account for environmental degradation. I’m part of a new generation looking to transform the way humans interact with the environment and with each other. I want to document the process.

I remember speaking to the husband of one of the authors I used to work with. He said, “Being an author requires a certain amount of hubris. You need to believe you have something worth saying.” And maybe that’s what I’ve been missing this whole time. Every time I began to write my “big novel” all I could think was that at 21 years old I hadn’t lived enough. And now, here I am: 31. Bursting with information and experiences that I want to share… and at the same time, wise enough to realize I still have a lot of learning to do.

I’m having a great time. Friendly people, beautiful landscape, complicated situation. With the exception of craving some good asian food, I’m feeling pretty fulfilled mentally, physically, and spiritually.